ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE COVENANT HEALTH SYSTEMSFROM THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON (U.S.A.)

18 October 1997

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to welcome you, the Trustees of the Covenant Health Systems from the United States. The fact that you have important responsibilities in the field of healthcare offers me the opportunity to reaffirm not only the Church's constant and unfailing concern for the sick and those in need, but also her commitment to defend and uphold the God-given dignity of every human person in the manner in which the sick are treated and cared for.

This is especially true in Catholic hospitals and health-care institutions. The Catholic identity of these centers consists above all in the evangelical quality of the love with which they serve the sick and in the moral principles which effectively govern their practices. I encourage you in your work to be ever attentive to the Church's teaching on medical-moral issues.

May your visit to Rome increase your resolve to respect the image of the Creator in all those who benefit from your professional skills. I invoke upon you God's blessings of peace and well-being!